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For sale is Earthroamer #22, built in 2006. We purchased this vehicle in Dec 2015 to drive from Alaska to Chile, however work issues got in the way and the trip never became a reality. In the time we’ve owned it, we put around 4,000 miles on it. The truck now has about 47k miles on it. We are the second owners. In preparation for our trip that never happened, no expense was spared in ensuring every aspect of the truck is in tip top shape. We spent over $10,000 having an excellent mechanic go through the truck with a fine tooth comb and fix anything that looked like it may have even a small chance of being a failure point on our trip. We had a full “bullet proof” treatment done on the engine which included new head studs, EGR delete, and other upgrades they recommended to us to ensure maximum engine reliability.

This truck is has a 6.0 Ford diesel engine which does NOT require ultra low sulfur diesel. This is the last Ford engine that has this capability, which is a must if you want to take the truck out of the USA / Canada. The 6.0 has a mixed reputation because it often failed a couple predictable ways. The bullet proof upgrade replaces the failure prone parts of the 6.0 engine and turns it into an extremely reliable engine, much more so than the more complex newer Ford diesel engines which require DEF fluid.

Truck is located in Garden Grove, CA and registered in CA. It is smog exempt. Truck is in good, clean condition. We have parked it inside our company’s warehouse on a battery tender for the time that we’ve owned it. The truck is ready to go around the world.

Non-exhaustive list of improvements:

* Bullet Proof 6.0 Diesel Makeover, rear engine seals, belts, alternators, filters, all common wear items replaced preventatively
* Truck driven monthly to keep engine healthy
* Several thousand dollars worth of Dynamat sound insulation was professionally installed in the floor, ceiling, firewall, and doors. We had them install as much as they possibly could to get the quietest ride achievable.
* New Lifeline 8D House Batteries
* New Truck batteries
* New water filters
* New Camper Water Pump
* Diesel appliances serviced. We run them monthly for 15 min, per manufacturer recommendation
* Diesel tanks always stored with fuel stabilizer
* Upgraded to new stereo with Apple Carplay
* DC to DC 3 stage charger. All Earthroamers, including brand new ones, have a major problem with charging off the truck alternator. In theory it sounds like it would work well, but in practice charging off the truck alternator barely works, especially in cold weather. The engine computer tries to save gas by reducing alternator voltage output after the truck is warmed up. It is not designed to charge large camper batteries. Once it reduces the voltage output, the camper batteries start charging at an agonizingly slow rate. This problem is well documented on the Earthroamer forum by many owners. The charger we installed is a marine charger designed specifically for this scenario where large battery banks are charged off alternators on boats. It takes whatever voltage the alternator supplies and boosts it up to the optimal voltage for the AGM house batteries, which results in much faster charge times. This 3 stage charger compensates for temperature and is much easier on the batteries, resulting in longer service life.
* Halogen interior lights have been converted to LEDs which use a negligible amount of power
* Camper rear stereo has been upgraded with an Aux line in
* Added new 2.5 lb Halon 1211 fire extinguisher to rear and new 5 lb ABC extinguisher in front

We paid approximately $150k for this truck in 2015 put close to $20k into the truck after we bought it. Prices on used models seem to have gone up slightly since we bought the truck. The lowest cost Earthroamer for sale right now on ER’s website is #92 (2008 model). It sold for $210k in 2016 with 60k miles on it, and is for sale again now for the same price with 75k miles on it. There are no major differences between #22 and #92 except #92 is 2 years newer and has a 6.4 L engine, which many people consider to be less reliable than a bullet proofed 6.0 engine. Also, Earthroamer #30 (2006 model) sold on Earthroamer’s website for $170,000 with 66,000 miles at the end of 2016. It is completely identical to #22 except it had more miles and didn’t have the bullet proof engine mods done.

Member

Hey.. I hope they get everything they want.. there wasn't full disclosure on the comps stated... And part of being in a forum is learning and sharing the inside and outside from folks who have knowledge of trails they have crossed ... Good luck with sale ..

different strokes, I guess. On every other forum I frequent, it's considered bad form to criticize the price in the sale thread. On most forums, any comments doing so will be removed. Discuss value outside of the man's listing, and let him sell his vehicle. If the price is out of line, the market will reflect that and it won't sell until it comes into line. Usually, that is.

Expedition Leader

I think unless you are very serious and interested in buying said vehicle, it is indeed bad etiquette to start criticizing the price.

Especially in this case when the op did a good job of explaining how he got to his price.
In my opinion, finding fault in the pricing logic should be reserved for private negotiation with the seller (assuming you are buying it).

I would strongly argue that that is not a useful comp. I have tracked every publicly posted sale that occurred between 2013 and now. I spent several years looking before finally purchasing ER #22. During the time I was shopping, I talked to many of the buyers of recently sold vehicles to get an idea of what they paid. To date, I'm aware for 4 sales in that time span there were under $140k. The first was back around 2012 or 2013, and it was ER #3, a 2004 model. It sold for 100k in 2014. The construction of the first 5 trucks was signicantly different than the current monocoque fiberglass body they use now, and it makes sense that these early vehicles would be priced less. The next truck that sold for under 140k was 2006 ER #28 which had been stolen, stripped out, and had a savage title. Someone bought it at auction, fixed it up, and and sold it 2 months later with the salvage title for around $128k in July 2015. The next one after that was fairly recent. It was located in Mexico, seized by the Mexican government, subject to possible seizure if imported into the USA, and in poor condition. Definitely not a comparable sale. Finally there was the recent one with the asking price of $90k. To my knowledge, this is the first time that ever happened with any Earthroamer sale. Frankly I think the seller was crazy, no offense meant to him. It was clearly significantly underpriced and he had people trying to race over there with checks in hand for more than his asking price. That drama is all documented in a different thread here. This has never happened before, and is unlikely to ever happen again. Most people who own these trucks are smart enough to figure out what they are worth before selling them. If that seller had listed his truck at auction I think it's pretty clear it would have sold for well over $100k. For the record, I paid $145k for this truck in 2015 and have receipts for improvements done totaling just under $20k. $145k was a very fair price at the time based on the extensive research I had done. The market for these trucks has picked up quite a bit since 2015 and there has even been some price inflation.

If you buy a 6.0 or 6.3L Ford Earthroamer, you are asking for trouble if you do not install the bullet proof diesel modifications. This costs $10k to do. None of the other comps had it done. So even if you don't care about the other improvments we installed, you need to factor this $10k savings into the ask price. Technically our ask price is under $140k if you are comparing apples to apples with similar other Earthroamers that do not have the engine fixes done. If you pay $140k for the same truck without the bullet proof engine, you either need to put 10k into it yourself, or if you don't invest the $10k, run the risk of replacing the engine at some inopportune moment.

New member

Maybe for the quality guarantee they offer for pre-owned when you sell through them.. you will net around $110-120k at @160k selling price... As they will demand $20k in repairs/upgrades and commission...

My only point is that you are not comparing apples to apples... And forum users have a right to know this info.the more we all know how systems work, the better off we will all be.

The commission ER charges is not relevant to the asking price for the truck. Sale prices are is set by what people are willing pay, typically as evidenced by prior sale prices. As outlined in my previous post, these trucks do not sell for under approx $140k under any normal circumstances. That is both at ER or elsewhere. ER can charge a slight price premium because of the advertising exposure on their site, but there is no evidence they are commanding 40% premiums over the secondary market. If ER was selling this truck they would likely be asking $180k+ and we are are asking $160k. There is no comparable truck for sale for $110k to $120k, and there never has been, except for on one freak occasion. If there was, I would not have paid $145k for this truck. ER 22 is the best value on the market today.

Others here probably can shed more light on this than I can, but I believe the only difference is the rear axle. On the 550 there is a higher GVWR rating on the rear axle, which is necessary for the heavier newer ER variants with more marble, larger lead battery banks, etc. Our truck is under GVWR, so axle rating shouldn't be an issue. If someone strongly prefered an F-550 axle, I imagine swapping one is not very expensive, albeit unnecessary unless one intended to carry a ton of extra weight.

Just wondering, but how does whether or not they sell through ER have no impact on the final price? Clearly it would, because ER certifies the units as reconditioned and fixes up anything that is wrong. Maybe I am not understanding correctly?

New member

Just wondering, but how does whether or not they sell through ER have no impact on the final price? Clearly it would, because ER certifies the units as reconditioned and fixes up anything that is wrong. Maybe I am not understanding correctly?

It has a limited impact because they have a lot of advertizing exposure, but it's not drastic. ER #22 is in great condition, so selling direct through ER isn't going to make it more valuable in that respect. Any buyer can inspect it and determine the condition. Either way you get a good truck. Used vehicles purchased through ER do not carry any warranty that I'm aware of (unless it's some hidden thing they don't advertise on their site anywhere). In my opinion both parties benefit with a direct sale because the seller gets a little more and the buyer pays a little less with the middleman eliminated. Same reason I buy and sell my cars private party whenever possible. To each his own.

Observer

Others here probably can shed more light on this than I can, but I believe the only difference is the rear axle. On the 550 there is a higher GVWR rating on the rear axle, which is necessary for the heavier newer ER variants with more marble, larger lead battery banks, etc. Our truck is under GVWR, so axle rating shouldn't be an issue. If someone strongly prefered an F-550 axle, I imagine swapping one is not very expensive, albeit unnecessary unless one intended to carry a ton of extra weight.